With Kurgane still somewhat injured despite the potion, now was the time for Kai to press the advantage.

  Racing forward, he drew heavily on his wind Essence, hitting Kurgane with several heavy gusts that rocked him back and kept him off balance.

  More wind Essence flowed into Kai’s spear as he lunged forward, aiming to impale Kurgane through the chest.

  The other Sorcerer paled and scrambled aside, but the wind Essence Kai had fed into his spear had formed a secondary blade around the point. The metal missed, but the the wind drew blood.

  Cursing, Kurgane conjured fire in both hands and hurled it at Kai from close range.

  Diving into a roll to avoid the worst of it, Kai hissed in pain as some of the flames caught his back. He could have quashed them with his new technique, but he needed to avoid Kurgane realising what he could do.

  Instead, Kai bore the pain as he dodged a secondary deluge of flames, finally destroying the burning Essence with a tight gust of wind that flared his robes.

  Cold air flowed over the burnt skin of his back where the fire had burnt through his robes. Moving normally hurt, but Kai kept his expression calm, denying Kurgane the satisfaction of seeing his pain.

  “You’re good. I’ll grant you that much,” Kurgane said, conjuring yet more flames. “But in the face of this kind of power, being good with a spear simply isn’t enough.”

  Kai said nothing, simply channelling his fire Essence along his back to ease the burn he’d taken. It wasn’t as good as healing magic, but it would numb the pain and help things along.

  Taking in as much of the circle as he could without taking his eyes off of Kurgane, Kai realised that a good third of the ground was smouldering now.

  Kurgane had an impressive amount of Essence, and was spending it liberally, empowering even his wildest attacks with enough to have their effects linger.

  A good tactic against fast moving enemies, as even a small hit would burn badly, as Kai had felt. In this case, however, it played into what Kai had planned.

  They were close now, Kai just needed a little more fire on the ground and for Kurgane to be a little weaker.

  Drawing up a powerful wind blast, Kai charged right at Kurgane, waiting right until the other Sorcerer attacked before releasing his own Essence.

  A rough javelin flew at Kai, liquid flame dripping from its shoddy construction, only to be broken and swept off course by the concentrated blast that Kai had prepared.

  Racing past the explosion of flames from the shattered javelin, Kai’s eyes went wide as he realised that Kurgane had a second attack prepared in his other hand.

  Flames roared as a gout of liquid fire rained down on where Kai had been standing a split second earlier, most of it missing him as he threw himself to one side.

  Burning pain seared down Kai’s side as the part he’d been unable to dodge burnt through his robes and started to sear into his flesh.

  Running fire Essence through the area to deal with the burns, Kai kept moving. More fire landed where he’d been a moment later as Kurgane kept up the offensive, forcing Kai to push himself to keep ahead of the deadly attacks.

  “You didn’t seem bothered about the workshop burning,” Kurgane said, grinning savagely despite the sweat dripping from him as he conjured vast amounts of Essence. “So let me make things a bit more personal. I was the one who burnt the pretty Witch’s face to teach her to respect her betters. Well, not so pretty anymore, is she?”

  Rage raced through Kai as Kurgane admitted his crime, rage that only grew as he saw the smug look on the Sorcerer’s face. “You’ll pay for what you did, to her, and to all your other victims!”

  Kai had been leaning heavily on his wind Essence, using far more of it than he would normally as he hid his other element. Drawing on it again, Kai felt his anger mould the blast as he released it at Kurgane.

  To his shock, Kai watched as a loose blade of air, much like Kai had seen Verdan use, emerged rather than a formless blast.

  The abrupt change caught Kurgane by surprise as well, but he managed to conjure some flames to catch the worst of the attack.

  Stillness settled over the duelling circle for a moment as Kai realised what had just happened and Kurgane caught his breath.

  Kai had shaped that attack, and though his anger had guided him that first time, he could feel how he did it. That meant he’d finally learnt how to use Projection.

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  He’d been working around it by manipulating the air around them, but this would make everything easier.

  The shock of what he’d done had swept over Kai’s anger, and as he watched Kurgane gather up Essence for another large attack, he felt it settle into cold determination.

  Kurgane was tiring fast, and his projected attacks were becoming loose and shaky, which meant the time had come for Kai to end this.

  “Time to die!” Kurgane shouted as he pushed both hands toward Kai, releasing a vast wave of liquid flame.

  Steadying himself as the fire raced toward him, Kai called on his fire Essence but held it at the ready. At the same time, Kai reached down into the core of his being for the strange magic that Vaijon had shown him.

  Parada to some, soul magic to others.

  Focusing his intent, Kai faced the oncoming flames and whispered to that magic. “By my will alone.”

  The words resonated with something within Kai, and magic poured forth from his core, weaving itself into the fire Essence he had at the ready.

  A bare instant before the flames overtook Kai, he held one hand out and made a grasping motion. In an instant, Kai’s Essence punched out into the flames, driving Kurgane’s influence out and subsuming the rest for Kai.

  A wave of tiredness struck Kai as he wielded the power of his soul directly, but he kept his focus on the task at hand.

  All around Kai a deluge of liquid flame poured down onto the ground, burning everywhere he could have fled to.

  The section that would have hit him directly, however, had been drawn down into Kai’s hand, forming a thick gauntlet.

  “That’s impossible!” Kurgane staggered back, his eyes wide as he clutched at his head. “What did you do?”

  Kai exerted his will on the captured Essence, reshaping the liquid into a javelin before hurling it back at Kurgane. Wind Essence swept along in its path, speeding it forward too fast for the Sorcerer to dodge.

  The javelin caught Kurgane in the arm and shattered, spraying him with liquid flame that burnt right through his robes.

  Kai sprinted forward in the wake of his attack, flooding his body with Essence as he closed the distance in a blur.

  Much like Kai, Kurgane had quenched the burning flames with more Essence. Looking back up to see Kai closing in, Kurgane cursed and threw himself back as he conjured a wild spray of flames.

  A wild attack was harder for Kai to influence, so he reluctantly dodged to one side, grabbing a portion of Kurgane’s attack as he did.

  Forming an air blade, Kai fed the liquid flame into it before launching the whole thing at Kurgane. The pressurised air condensed and concentrated the liquid fire, making the whole thing into a delayed explosion that was hurtling right at Kurgane’s face.

  Realising the danger, the other Sorcerer creating a thick shield of fire to blunt the attack, only to have his control contested over a part of it.

  Kai had practiced this with Vaijon and knew that he could only take control from a Sorcerer a few times before they learned how to resist the effect. After that, he could still manage it, but it was much harder.

  Right now, Kurgane had no idea how to fight back and Kai ripped control of his shield away, collapsing the centre to let his attack through.

  The tightly compacted fire struck Kurgane’s chest, the wind carrying it drawing blood as it cut slightly into the Sorcerer’s flesh and broke apart.

  The moment the pressure faded the fire exploded out, blasting Kurgane from his feet and burning his chest and face badly.

  Kai raced forward, drawing on the agility of fire and the freedom of the wind to avoid the countless pools of burning liquid that Kurgane had scattered all around them.

  Reaching the battered Sorcerer, Kai lunged forward and drove his knee into Kurgane’s face as he tried to rise.

  Kurgane fell back with a satisfying crunch and a cry of pain as his nose broke once more. One hand rose up as he started to channel Essence, but Kai’s spear was already moving and he rammed it down into Kurgane’s chest.

  Disbelief, fear and shock mixed in with the pain on Kurgane’s face as he coughed out blood. Glaring up at Kai, the fear turned to anger, and he started to speak before Kai cast an air blade through his throat.

  Pulling his spear free, Kai waited just long enough to ensure that Kurgane was truly dead before stepping back and nodding to Vaijon.

  The Elder walked over and examined Kurgane’s body before giving Kai a satisfied nod. “As arbiter, I officially declare you the victor. As a fellow Sorcerer, I thank you for doing what I could not.”

  “What happened to your fear of the strife this might bring?” Kai asked, leaning on his spear as he caught his breath. His side and back were badly burnt, but he’d come through that in good shape.

  There was a deep exhaustion within him, though. He’d need time to recover from wielding his soul directly.

  “I think the price of keeping him alive might well have been more costly in the end,” Vaijon said, glancing down at the dead Sorcerer with a look of contempt. “A quick death was more than he deserved. The fool was taunting you directly, but we heard him just as clearly.”

  Kai nodded before hefting his spear and turning back to the crowd who’d gathered to watch. Moving that way, he saw Verdan and Gwen step forward to meet him.

  “Iacha,” Verdan said, reaching out to rest a hand on Kai’s shoulder.

  A wave of cooling energy swept through Kai, numbing the pain and starting him on the road to being healed.

  Kai gave the Wizard a nod of thanks before turning to Gwen, unsure of just what he’d see in her eyes. She’d surely heard what Kurgane had declared, after all. Would she be angry? Disappointed?

  “Verdan told me that you knew, that you were going to tell me soon yourselves,” Gwen said, reaching up to cup his cheek. “Thank you for deciding to trust me, even if he never gave you the chance to.”

  Kai looked down into her eyes and found nothing but concern and worry for him. Relief swept through him as he heard her words, and Kai realised just how much he’d hated keeping this from her.

  Keeping things separate had felt natural in the past, but perhaps that time was gone. Gwen was a powerful woman in her own right.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t get to tell you,” Kai said softly, reaching up with his free hand to place his hand over her own. “I couldn’t let him cause any more trouble, though. It was all I could do to not challenge him until now.”

  “I understand, and I’m impressed,” Gwen said, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “If someone had hurt you, I don’t think I could held off, even if I was asked to. You might not have noticed, but I can get a little angry.”

  Kai chuckled at the understatement and leaned in, ignoring the pain from his burns as he kissed her soundly.

  Verdan muttered something about making sure the horses were okay and hurried off, but Kai barely even noticed.